Page 28 of A Hellion for the Highland Hawk
Nancy hugged herself to fend off the chill, those sweet words echoing in her head over and over.Ye saved her. Ye saved her.
She doubted there were any better words in the English dictionary than that. Still, she’d have preferred to conduct this conversation somewhere warmer.
“The medicine I showed you,” she replied, her teeth chattering. “I used it.”
“The pellets?”
She shook her head. “The long tube thing.”
“Howis that medicine? It’s nae a tonic or a tincture or?—”
“It just is. It’s strong stuff, from my… from, you know, where I come from,” she replied.
If he asked her to try to explain how it worked or how it was made, she didn’t have the means to do so.
“But how did ye ken it would help?” he pressed.
She shrugged her shoulders. “Because the allergy she has is the same allergy I have. That’s why I carry that medicine with me.”
“Allergy?” His frown deepened, the word clearly meaning nothing to him.
“The reaction to the sting that made her all puffy and red and gave her trouble with her breathing,” she explained. “And the thing about bee stings is, if you get stung again, the reaction the next time is often worse. So, you should be careful that she doesn’t get too close to one in the future. Total observation while she’s in a garden or enjoying wildflowers in the summer.”
It dawned on her that, if she found a way back to her own time, she wouldn’t be the one keeping an eye on Freya. She’d have to leave instructions or something. Then again, this healer seemed to know a lot. Maybe there was a remedy for bee sting allergies at that time that she just didn’t know about.
“I daenae understand why ye let her get stung in the first place,” Hunter said coldly, that pained look scrunching his eyes again.
Nancy puffed out a breath. “You know, you could just say ‘thank you’ and let me thaw myself out in my room. Yes, I could have closed the window, but I didn’tknowa bee was going to get in,just as I didn’t know your daughter was allergic until she started having symptoms. It was an accident. They happen.”
She waited for the reprimand, his insistence that she should have been more careful with his daughter, that she was irresponsible, that she was forbidden from watching over Freya again, and a thousand other reasons why this was all her fault. As if she didn’t feel guilty enough already.
So, it surprised her when he expelled a bone-deep sigh and his grip relaxed on the doorway. “I daenae scare easy, lass.”
“I figured,” she replied, confused.
“But when I heard that me daughter was unwell, and I had nay choice but to leave her behind to ride out and fetch the healer meself, I was… terrified,” he continued, his voice softening. “I didnae much like hearin’ that ye’d been brought down here either.”
It wasn’t an apology or a thank you, but it rang with more sincerity than either would have. A man like him, so powerful and formidable, didn’t seem like someone who exposed his vulnerability often.
Freya is his weakness.
Nancy’s heart twinged strangely, a new layer of respect forming. A father who loved his daughter that much was something shecouldn’t relate to, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want to see more of it in the world. This one and her own.
“You certainly took your time setting me free,” she said with a mild laugh, hoping to lighten the mood a little.
Clearly, if he’d ridden to fetch the healer, he’d had other things on his mind than freeing the potential witch in his dungeons.
He made a gruff sound that might have been a chuckle. “If I’d let ye out without the healer confirmin’ that all was well, they’d have thought me bewitched.”
She let out a humorless laugh. “Oh, yes, Jack made it very clear what he thought I was. It’s going to make thingsveryawkward at breakfast tomorrow.”
“He doesnae think it as much now. If he believes ye’re a witch, he’s convinced himself ye’re one of the good ones,” Hunter said, taking a step forward. “I, however, am still nae sure. Ye seem a sorceress to me.”
“And if I had the ability to explain how the medicine works, you’d be so bored you wouldn’t doubt me again,” she replied, her heart leaping.
“It’s nae because of the medicine, lass.” He moved closer still, and she no longer had any desire to back away.
There was nothing in the back of the cell that she wanted to be near, while the warmth of Hunter radiated toward her, calling to her. Her chilled, shaking body would’ve liked nothing more than to nuzzle into the heat of him, stealing it from him. It seemed like the least he could do.
